Tony Costa
Member
During the recent World Boardgaming Championships Convention the game I was helping to demonstrate for LnL ("A Wing and a Prayer") was directly adjacent to Red Eclipse, so I sat next to Steve and his game for the entire week. Steve had a very basic playtest kit on hand, the art was simple placeholder art so not really appropriate to post here.
Throughout the week I watched a number of gamers sit down to run through a playtest, none of them had ever seen the game before.
After the second game turn every one of them had a decent enough grasp of the rules that Steve no longer needed to explain anything, they were all just having fun playing the game.
Most playtest scenarios I observed lasted maybe a total of one hour, with the new players learning the rules and completing the scenario in that time. Any second scenarios went much faster.
It was very impressive to watch how fast the game played but yet how most of a players time was spent on making tactical decisions instead of looking at rules and charts.
In fact all the charts needed to play the game were on one sheet of paper (although I would assume in any final printed game that will be expanded to 2-3 sheets given larger font size and additional graphics). There were no chart lookups for combat, everything is based on the unit counters firepower and morale with easy to remember modifiers for terrain and leadership.
Early the final morning I had time to run through a quick game, I haven't played a tactical game in a while so was worried I wouldn't be able to grasp the rules concepts quickly enough.
I shouldn't have been worried; Steve taught me the rules in five minutes, we setup up and played through a scenario in maybe an hour. And most of that time was spent in designer-playtester conversation discussing small fine tuning possibilities, the time spent actually playing the game was maybe 20-25 minutes.
The Tactical Events Cards really enhance the fun and dramatic action of the game. (I typically don't play card driven games and was hesitant when I first saw them)
Make no mistake, this is not a card driven deck management game, this is an extremely well researched finely crafted wargame who's heart and soul is (in my opinion based on the scenario we played) leadership and fire & maneuver at the tactical level.
Instead of the standard dry slog through charts and tables turn-after-turn the Tactical Events Cards provide for some very tense unpredictable moments and are an accurate representation of the friction and chaos of combat.
I had a blast playing just that one quick game. Steve's lead squad gained the objective building first (OBJ Bravo, a two hex building) but command confusion and an obstacle (minefield) delayed his follow on squads. This allowed my force to set a base of fire (fire team with LMG in woods) and position the assault element (full squad) in the woods adjacent to OBJ Bravo. A turn was spent pouring in suppressing fire, then when the assault went in they took half the OBJ easily. My reserve squad now came up and finished the destruction of the defenders and took the second half of the OBJ. Steve's remaining force retreated back to hold OBJ Alpha (one hex building), but again command confusion slowed one squad and the other was destroyed by the base of fire position. Steve did get the last squad into OBJ Alpha but a smoke screen allowed my force to close the distance and make the final assault.
Later that day as we were packing up our respective games, cleaning off our tables and getting ready to head home I looked up at the clock and said "Steve, we still have about thirty minutes, that's enough time to run through another quick game!"
Throughout the week I watched a number of gamers sit down to run through a playtest, none of them had ever seen the game before.
After the second game turn every one of them had a decent enough grasp of the rules that Steve no longer needed to explain anything, they were all just having fun playing the game.
Most playtest scenarios I observed lasted maybe a total of one hour, with the new players learning the rules and completing the scenario in that time. Any second scenarios went much faster.
It was very impressive to watch how fast the game played but yet how most of a players time was spent on making tactical decisions instead of looking at rules and charts.
In fact all the charts needed to play the game were on one sheet of paper (although I would assume in any final printed game that will be expanded to 2-3 sheets given larger font size and additional graphics). There were no chart lookups for combat, everything is based on the unit counters firepower and morale with easy to remember modifiers for terrain and leadership.
Early the final morning I had time to run through a quick game, I haven't played a tactical game in a while so was worried I wouldn't be able to grasp the rules concepts quickly enough.
I shouldn't have been worried; Steve taught me the rules in five minutes, we setup up and played through a scenario in maybe an hour. And most of that time was spent in designer-playtester conversation discussing small fine tuning possibilities, the time spent actually playing the game was maybe 20-25 minutes.
The Tactical Events Cards really enhance the fun and dramatic action of the game. (I typically don't play card driven games and was hesitant when I first saw them)
Make no mistake, this is not a card driven deck management game, this is an extremely well researched finely crafted wargame who's heart and soul is (in my opinion based on the scenario we played) leadership and fire & maneuver at the tactical level.
Instead of the standard dry slog through charts and tables turn-after-turn the Tactical Events Cards provide for some very tense unpredictable moments and are an accurate representation of the friction and chaos of combat.
I had a blast playing just that one quick game. Steve's lead squad gained the objective building first (OBJ Bravo, a two hex building) but command confusion and an obstacle (minefield) delayed his follow on squads. This allowed my force to set a base of fire (fire team with LMG in woods) and position the assault element (full squad) in the woods adjacent to OBJ Bravo. A turn was spent pouring in suppressing fire, then when the assault went in they took half the OBJ easily. My reserve squad now came up and finished the destruction of the defenders and took the second half of the OBJ. Steve's remaining force retreated back to hold OBJ Alpha (one hex building), but again command confusion slowed one squad and the other was destroyed by the base of fire position. Steve did get the last squad into OBJ Alpha but a smoke screen allowed my force to close the distance and make the final assault.
Later that day as we were packing up our respective games, cleaning off our tables and getting ready to head home I looked up at the clock and said "Steve, we still have about thirty minutes, that's enough time to run through another quick game!"
I am looking forward to it down the line!
